Queen Alexandra Hospital

• 19 Level 3 equivalent beds, mixed general critical care unit
• Higher proportion of medicine vs. surgery than is typical in UK
• High APACHE II scores, mean around 20-21
• There is no split site working within this Unit

• SEPTIC
• Genomicc
• Remap cap
• ABRRUPT
• Signet
• Effort
• PHIND

The unit is divided into East and West sides both taking level 2 and 3 patients (i.e. not run as HDU and ICU)

Nursing staff: Staffed for 19 level 3 equivalent beds. Nurse in charge for each side to support the team

Consultant Level: Dedicated consultant cover 24/7.  2 consultants run the ICU every day of the year with one consultant covering the night currently as non resident weekdays and resident Friday-Sunday.

ACCPs: We currently have 6 qualified ACCPs as well as a further 3 due to finish training soon, and a further 3 started training a year ago.  They are able to support both the senior and junior tier of the medical rota.

Resident medical staff:  We currently run a registrar rota staffed with trainees from ICM and anaesthesia training schemes as well as Fellows (SHO and Registrar) on stand alone posts.  We are part of the medical training initiative, taking overseas trainees with an ICM background for their overseas experience. We are one of the Wessex units that provide Respiratory Registrars with their ICM block experience. The SHO rota is staffed with trainees from Foundation, ACCS and IMT programmes as well as Acute Medicine registrars needing to complete their ICU training. We have also taken ED fellows for their ICM competencies.

Supernumerary: We take medical students from the University of Southampton and will take students from Portsmouth next year.

• Training in point of care ultrasound
• Opportunity to attend theatre for airway experience
• Exposure to paediatric emergencies
• Interhospital transfers
• Opportunity to attend a Cardiac Catheterisation lab
• Acting up as an ICM Consultant (for Stage 3 trainees)
• Other: CPET clinic, bronchoscopy lists, follow-up clinic

• Departmental teaching every day at 1345 to cover essential training topics as well as topics of interest to the MDT
• Friday teaching runs every Friday 0930-1230 divided into 3 sessions.
• Core session aimed at junior tier to cover areas of all curricula
• Middle session delivered by a trainee but supervised and facilitated by consultant. Incorporates case presentations/audit presentations/areas of interest.  Trainees are encouraged to use these sessions to complete work based assessments
• MDT session. Audit/M+M/review of incidents/research/professionalism/MDT presentations
• The MDT training has also now incorporated a well-being focus with sessions on Pilates and mindfulness
• Journal club runs monthly in addition to the teaching programme

• There are 6 sessions per year dedicated to the review of critical incidents
• There are 6 sessions per year dedicated to M+M
• There are a further 3 sessions per year named “cake and quality” which ask the whole MDT to focus on a single governance question.  Previous examples include (what makes us feel unsafe at work, how to put the fun back into work, learning from good practice)
• There are a further 6 governance group meeting per year which trainees are welcome to attend

• Deanery doctors are entitled to apply for on site parking.
• There are two on call rooms that can be used for rest (on shift or post), there is 24 hour access to a café as well as food from vending machines.
• There is office space for ICM doctors to use.